


That’s Life (And I can’t deny it)

by Wolvesandwerewolves



Category: The Umbrella Academy (TV), White Collar
Genre: Alternate Universe - Superpowers, Drabble Fic, Gen, Pre-Series
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-11
Updated: 2020-09-11
Packaged: 2021-03-07 02:00:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,299
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26409118
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Wolvesandwerewolves/pseuds/Wolvesandwerewolves
Summary: Neal Caffrey was born October 1, 1989 to a mother who was not pregnant when the day began.
Relationships: Neal Caffrey/Kate Moreau
Comments: 5
Kudos: 47





	That’s Life (And I can’t deny it)

**Author's Note:**

> me: im gonna finally finish the next im with you in rockland chapter!!  
> also me: starts it, then writes whatever this bullshit is instead 
> 
> yeah white collar was my first fandom. i guess this counts as a writing exercise. I mean not really but... at least it was getting words on a page. 
> 
> yep. this is certainly all words. 
> 
> ....

When he’s ten years old, he finds himself sitting in front of the tv, holding a pillow close to his chest as an image of himself, dressed and teeth brushed, steps out the front door. Mom waves him goodbye as he imagines himself stepping onto the platform of the bus, and then he hears the screen door screech and slam. He lets his false twin fade like dissipating smoke, never there to anyone but her. He pictures the couch he is sitting on, empty, lonely, the tv blank and quiet. Mom passes right by him, doesn’t even look at him, and the door to her bedroom closes quietly.

On the news channel, there’s kids like him, all standing in a line, wearing school uniforms underneath black coats. He listens to the interviews after, watches the children as they demonstrate their special skills to appease an audience of grown ups, loud and excited and too curious.

Neal thinks he knew then, that something wasn’t right. After all, every other sighting of gifted children followed the same storyline—children born to mothers who did not want them, all on the same day, October 1st, 1989.

Mom tells him his birthday is in March. She lies. But Ellen tells him the truth on his 18th birthday—his real birthday, just after autumn has settled in around him, oranges and reds and yellows, all browned at the edge and fading. _You deserve to know,_ Aunt Ellen says. She tells him everything. 

Suddenly his gift of enticing hallucinations doesn’t seem so special after all. He wonders how many other children were born on the same day he was. He wonders if Reginald Hargreeves ever offered to buy him from his mother, exhausted and confused with a child she was not prepared for.

He watches as the members of the Academy fade from the spotlights of the cameras and decides he does not want to know. He knows enough about them to realize that his life, even as false and as fabricated as the images he can create in the dark valleys of someone else’s mind, is far from awful. 

It’s still not ideal, though. He looks at the picture of his father setting on the ledge above the fireplace—prim and proper in his black uniform, gold shiny badge hanging on his chest. The gun at his hip—the gun he used to kill someone. 

His real name is Neal. Danny was nothing but a false image. How ironic. 

He hugs Ellen goodbye, and does not tell her where he’s going. She uses his real name when she says she loves him, and that she’s sorry, and for that, Neal believes her. 

The piece of paper he uses to catch a plane is blank, but everyone that looks at it sees exactly what he wants them to see. 

—————————————————————-

Neal uses his power far more in New York than he ever did in Missouri. 

He uses it to change the look of the dollar bills and false ID’s he hands to cashiers and waiters. He uses it to buy a meager, little apartment, the only thing he actually owns, so far. He uses it to get away clean from every crime he dabbles in. 

He uses it to trick a man playing cards at the park. The man follows him home, demands an explanation, and then surprises him. 

Mozzie teaches him—well, everything. He teaches him not to rely on his power, and not to be lazy. He helps him improve the paintings and forgeries he’s worked on, and teaches him every single thing he could ever want to know about any reputable and unknown artist. He speaks in quotes and riddles. 

Mozzie quickly becomes his best friend. They set up a long con together and through that, Nick Halden meets Kate. 

After the con fails, and Adler gets away, and after he tells Kate everything about himself—she tells him everything, too. 

Kate was also born on October 1, 1989. Just like him.

————————————————————

They seem to have an affinity for finding each other, these children with the same birthday and extraordinary talents.

Even though they met before, Neal is reintroduced to Alex when she wants something from him. She winks, leaves an origami figure behind in her wake, inviting them to her birthday party—on October 1, same as his and Kate’s.

Kate doesn’t like that he tells Alex about what he can do, but he figures it’s only fair. After all, what’s the saying? _Show me yours, I’ll show you mine._

She has the ability to feel the entire history of an object—or sometimes, even people—just by touching them. Useful, for detecting forgeries, even those Neal creates himself. She wears black leather gloves, but he knows from experience that her hands are soft and nails sharp. 

The job she has planned is exciting, and he wants in. 

But Kate doesn’t, and so she leaves. It’s the first time she ever uses her powers against him. 

—————————————————————

When he finds Kate again, she’s made new friends, played cons and stolen art, made a name for herself in the game all without his reputation bleeding in to mix paint. But he smiles at her, and she smiles back, relieved even though he thought for sure she’d be annoyed. 

Neal introduces himself as Nick Halden. Kate laughs, gives him her own alias, and introduces him to a new player. Matthew Keller.

Keller smiles at them, playfully mocks them for being so _precious_ , as if he knows something Neal doesn’t.

He probably does.

But they get along well, bantering and sharing drinks as if they were brothers. Keller laughs at that, and it becomes an inside joke before Neal is even aware of the humor of it all. 

But he enjoys the company. Together they pull a few cons and gamble a couple games of backgammon. They spend a full two weeks living it up in expensive hotel suites, dressed to the nines, conning rich men out of their money and celebrating the thrill.

Neal doesn’t know about it until after he and Kate leave Keller behind in Monaco, but it makes sense that he can alter the colors of someone’s own emotions. He felt at ease, when they were together. It was almost like being drugged. 

He has the same birthday as Neal does, the same as Kate and Alex, too. Mozzie, when they meet back up in Italy, shares some conspiracy about it all, how they always manage to run into people with powers, too. Neal doesn’t understand or agree, but also doesn’t want to think too much on it. 

————————————————————

Time passes. They grow older, commit crimes with Mozzie and celebrate alone with expensive wine and thousand thread sheets. They meet a few other people like them, but nobody they stay in touch with. 

And then, as the saying goes, history repeats itself. He helps Alex with a grab that quickly turns sour, and when he makes it back home, exhausted and limping, the only thing that waits for him is an empty bottle of Bordeaux. 

_Goodbye_. 

Kate uses her powers against him again. 

Neal tries everything he can to get her back, but when finally does, they’re separated by inch-thick glass, smeared and streaked with dirty, desperate fingerprints. 

He stays. Kate visits him every damn day, until she doesn’t and once again she’s saying goodbye, and disappearing from sight.

Neal decides he does not look good in orange. He escapes. 

——————————————————————

Peter finds him with the same damn Bordeaux, all alone in an empty apartment. He takes him back in handcuffs. 

It’s not long after that, Neal is getting picked up by the same man that sent him to prison twice, an uncomfortable anklet stuck on his leg. 

But at least he’s free. Almost.

**Author's Note:**

> Yeah idk :/ i thought about making them all siblings but couldn’t figure that out and then i just did this? im gonna try like hell to finish the next rockland chapter tonight, I get out of school early and then ill do it I PROMISE geez ive gotten so bad 
> 
> xoxo peace 
> 
> oh yeah ps. Neal—-make anyone see/hear what he wants them to, like hallucinations  
> Alex—feels history of objects  
> Keller—mood alteration  
> Kate—temporarily fade from existence/memory???into shadows??? idk something ~mysterious~ and cool ig


End file.
